FROM THE CHEAP SEATS: Which Pine Belt baseball team is the biggest surprise this season?

Presbyterian Christian's Tyler Young delivers a pitch as the Bobcats take on Purvis.

Columbia's climb to top

- Stan Caldwell

If you take everything into consideration, it seems that the biggest surprise team in high school baseball this spring is probably Columbia.

Now, the Wildcats are a year removed from winning a state championship in Class 4A - no easy feat, but Columbia graduated the heart of that senior-dominated team and were rebuilding last year. Even so, Greg Owen's squad went 17-7 last season and advanced to the second round of the playoffs.

So far, Columbia is 14-3 overall, with its only defeats coming to a couple of Tennessee teams in a spring break tournament, and a one-run decision to Region 7-4A archrival Purvis. Included in the Wildcats' win total is a 10-2 win over Petal on a Saturday.

As a result, the Wildcats have climbed into the upper reaches of the Clarion-Ledger state rankings, getting to No. 1 before dropping to No. 3 last week.

So while most fans expected Columbia to be good, I don't think many expected the Wildcats to be this good.

Contact Stan Caldwell at (601) 584-3137.

PCS' turnaround takes the cake

- Jason Munz

With all due respect to Columbia, it's not much of a stretch that a team one year removed from a state championship that lost only one senior from last year's squad is doing as well as it is right now.

That being said, Presbyterian Christian - which hasn't finished with a winning record in, at least, the last five years - is really raising some eyebrows this season.

Under first-year head coach Kyle Maxie, the Bobcats are 8-7 (2-7 in district play) and have already beaten historically successful MHSAA programs Taylorsville, Stringer and Purvis. PCS has also beaten the likes of Hillcrest Christian, which has experienced plenty of MAIS success in the past.

Whether or not PCS goes deep in the playoffs this season remains to be seen, but as far as the biggest surprise in our area so far, the Bobcats get my vote.